Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum
Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum
Questioning is a method of noting one's reactions to a text while reading. Questioning encourages students to articulate specific issues while they read.
One way to teach questioning is to model it for students. As the teacher reads aloud with the class, he or she may stop, look up, and ask an obvious question. Then, the teacher can write his or her question on a sticky note and place it at the spot in the text where the question arose. It's important for teachers to show the students how to leave their notes sticking out a little, like bookmarks, to be found later. When the text later answers the questions, readers should write an "A" for "answered" on the note, and place it next to answer. Most importantly, teachers should explain that the text will not answer some of the most vital questions, which will be left open to explore in discussions.
This method is particularly valuable for students who need to organize their questions. They can mark texts with sticky notes, sort them according to importance, and then address those questions left unanswered by the author.
By noting different kinds of questions for example, questions about outcomes, characters, new information, and concepts students begin to recognize the underlying structure of a text. Students are then able to trace issues through a book, exploring the ways that books make complex arguments about related issues. When students begin tracking the questions that emerge during their reading, they learn to articulate the inner conversation they have with the text. Ultimately, questioning helps students to guide their own explorations of texts, because they learn to generate their own questions rather than looking to a teacher or parent.